County proclaims commitment to combat citrus disease
Board approves $250,000 to cover costs associated with removing Hlb-infected trees
The Tulare County Board of Supervisors approved Tuesday a $250,000 budget adjustment transfer to the Agricultural Commissioner’s office to cover expenses related to removing trees infected with Huanglongbing (HLB).
The funds will come from the coun- ty’s Miscellaneous Administration.
“We don’t know if we are going to spend all of that, especially with half of the year essentially left this year,” said Tom Tucker, assistant agricultural commissioner for Tulare County, during Tuesday’s night meeting held in Porterville. It was their fifth and final night meeting of the year.
With Tulare County being the number one citrus growing county in California with 75 packing sheds and processing facilities, and citrus acreage totaling more than 132,000, Tucker said the funds are a huge help.
Tucker said it would cost about $500 an acre to hire a vendor to go out and remove trees infected with HLB, a deadly bacterial disease that poses a severe threat to backyard trees and commercial groves and has decimated citrus production in Florida, China and Brazil, causing billions of dollars in losses.
Tucker said the Asian citrus psyllid (ACP), which is known to carry HLB, has been consistently detected in Tulare County since 2012. To date, authorities have trapped more than 750 of the aphid-sized insects.
Tucker said the funds the board approved Tuesday are simply a way to temporarily give the county a means of removing infected trees, particularly in neglected and abandoned citrus groves.
“The funds will be reimbursed as they are attached as a lien against the property owner’s land or property,” Tucker said, adding that he highly encourages growers to have infected trees removed themselves. “If we [Tulare County] have to get involved, unfortunately that takes time, takes money and the expenses go up from there.”
Tucker said growers should not procrastinate on the matter, especially as ACP continues to make its way to the Valley.
“The devastation that Huanglongbing has had on citrus growers and on the economy in Florida has been quite devastating,” Tucker said. “Growers have taken an enormous hit, losing their crops, losing their trees and then of course the economy right with that.”
He continued, “To prevent those kinds of things, we are bringing this request forward to help take actions that would prevent the HLB from finding its way here to Tulare County and the citrus groves” Tucker said. “If we can remove abandoned orchards that are not being treated or cared for and prevent the ACP from finding a host there to land on and therefore preventing HLB from coming as well, that would be a very strong and important move.”
In addition to citrus groves, Tucker said residents’ backyards are also concerning, especially given that there is no cure for HLB.
Tucker said although the Tulare County Ag. Commissioner’s office is not directly involved in spraying for ACP in residential areas of cities in the county, he noted that the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) is.
“Whenever an ACP is found, they [CDFA] come in and inform those individuals and those trees are taken care of,” Tucker said, adding that there’s almost as many residential-type trees throughout California as a whole as there are citrus groves.
Tucker added that once a tree is infected with HLB, it starts to produce misshapen, unmarketable, bitter fruit, eventually rendering a tree useless. He said trees in the orchards usually die three to five years after becoming infected and require removal and replanting.
Dan Dreyer, a citrus producer in Exeter, said ACP and HLB are a death sentence for citrus.
“This [Tulare County] is the last place in the world where we grow citrus without HLB,” Dreyer said. “Let’s keep it that way.”
Matt Leider, a local citrus farmer and a director of California Citrus Mutual (CCM), said CCM has spent a considerable amount of funds on protection, survey work, tree removal and lab analysis and communications to help keep California’s citrus industry from being decimated like Florida’s citrus industry.
“In addition to these efforts, our citrus research board has spent $50 million in an effort to partner with the scientific community to find a cure,” Leider said, adding, “This is a big war and we all can be a part of it to help save our county’s citrus industry.”
John Konda, a citrus grower in the Terra Bella area, applauded the board for taking the initiative to help prevent HLB from harming the county’s citrus industry, but noted that more money will definitely be needed.
“I don’t think $250,000 is enough,” Konda said. “I think it is a drop in the bucket for what you guys are going to experience so be prepared for what’s to come.”
Bill Bennett, a thirdgeneration citrus grower from Porterville, agreed.
“This request is just the beginning of the necessary needs to be able to combat the disease prior to it establishing here in our county,” Bennett said.
Supervisor Chairman Pete Vander Poel encouraged members of the citrus industry to not just focus on eradicating backyard groves and abandoned or neglected orchards, but also public awareness.
“What do we need to keep our eyes open for and if we have a problem, who do we contact,” are questions Vander Poel said citrus industry personnel need to address.
Supervisor Kuyler Crocker said he appreciates where the county is at today with regard to the HLB issue.
“This is not a single bullet that can solve this problem by any means, but I think this is an appropriate first step as far as having the county doing its part,” Crocker said.
In addition to approving the $250,000 budget adjustment transfer, the board also adopted a proclamation demonstrating Tulare County’s commitment to fight and prevent the ACP and HLB, the disease it transmits, and adopted a resolution allowing the Office of County Counsel to represent the county in proceedings relating to the protection of citrus trees and abatement of neglected or abandoned plants or crops.